Pioneer High School (San Jose, California)

Pioneer High School is a highly rated public high school located in the Almaden Valley neighborhood of San Jose, California. It is one of six high schools in the San Jose Unified School District, and is a science magnet school with an interdisciplinary focus on community service and service learning. It was nominated for California Distinguished School awards in 2008, 2006, 2000, and 1996.[2]

Pioneer High School
Address
1290 Blossom Hill Road

,
United States
Coordinates37.2474°N 121.88289°W / 37.2474; -121.88289
Information
TypePublic secondary
Established1960
LocaleSan Jose Unified School District
PrincipalHerbert Espiritu
Mission StatementOpening minds

Serving the community.

Enriching lives.
School Colors  Blue
  White
  Black (secondary)
Staff68.40 (FTE)[1]
Grades9-12
Number of students1,617 (2017–18)[1]
Student to teacher ratio23.64[1]
Color(s)Blue, White & Black      
MascotMustangs
RivalLeland High School
Feeder schoolsCastillero Middle School
John Muir Middle School
Websitepioneer.sjusd.org

Academics

Pioneer High School has received 4 California Distinguished School awards (1996, 2000, 2006, and 2008), has been awarded the Santa Clara County Top Ten High School award, and has been listed in The Mercury News as a National Service Learning Leader School from 1998 to 2006. The school's Academic Performance index in 2007 was 801/1000, putting it in the top 20% of schools and classifying it under the "Very High Performing School" category. Pioneer has never failed to achieve the growth goals expected of them under the No Child Left Behind Act.

At Pioneer High, each student has a certain amount of unit requirements under different categories that they must complete in order to graduate. There are a number of accelerated and Advanced Placement classes students can choose from, as well as mock trial and radio broadcasting extra-curricular activities that they can choose to be involved in. The yearbook was a semi-finalist in the year 2006, and in the 2006–2007 school year the yearbook was chosen as the national sample.

Service Learning Focus

Pioneer High School focuses on community service and service learning as part of its mission statement. To support this focus, the school requires all sophomore students to participate in a "Sophomore Project", a venture that demands a minimum of 30 hours of community service related to a world problem, in addition to many class assignments relating to it such as a poem and a poster board, in the span of a school year. 15 hours are required per semester of the sophomore year.[3] In most cases, students exceed this amount, sometimes even exceeding one hundred hours, in which case they are presented a Presidential Award for Service.[4] Many students claim that the Sophomore Project assignment is the most challenging part of attending Pioneer High School.

During their Senior year, students are again given the opportunity to participate in a service learning project when they are introduced to the "Senior Exhibition" assignment. Students may complete multiple hours of personal or community work in order to obtain extra credits. The Senior Exhibition project is not mandatory, but students that complete it are rewarded a graduation cord.[4]

Athletics

A Pioneer football player running the ball.

Pioneer Mustangs Athletics are generally known for being a strong force within the BVAL league of the Central Coast Section. The Athletic Department, headed by Joe Berticevich, has experienced much success over the past decade. Perhaps the sports Pioneer is most known for are its football and basketball teams. Pioneer football has achieved multiple winning seasons in the Mount Hamilton division of BVAL over the past decade, and continually competes with private schools of a much higher caliber.[5] The Mustangs biggest rivals are the Leland Chargers.

FALL SPORTSWINTER SPORTSSPRING SPORTS
Varsity FootballBoys Varsity BasketballVarsity Baseball
JV FootballBoys JV BasketballFrosh/Soph Baseball
Frosh/Soph FootballGirls Varsity BasketballVarsity Softball
Girls VolleyballGirls JV BasketballJV Softball
JV VolleyballBoys Varsity SoccerBoys/Girls Badminton
Girls TennisFrosh/Soph Boys SoccerTrack and Field
Cross CountryGirls Varsity SoccerBoys Tennis
Boys Varsity Water PoloGirls JV SoccerBoys/Girls Golf
Boys JV Water PoloWrestlingBoys/Girls Swimming
Girls Varsity Water PoloDiving
Girls JV Water PoloBoys Volleyball
Girls La Crosse

Demographics

Pioneer's racial demographics are[2]

  • White (60%)
  • Hispanic (23%)
  • Asian (11%)
  • Black (3%)
  • Native American (2%)
  • Other (1%)

Pioneer's gender demographics are[2]

  • Male (51%)
  • Female (49%)

Notable alumni


References

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